All Forum Posts by: Elenis Camargo

Yes, we actually bought in Augusta, GA late last year. It took a bit longer than we would have liked to have gotten rented out, but I know the market was very slow in Q4. We bought a 4/1.5 SFR for $128k that needed about $2k of touch up work (mostly landscaping) to get it rent ready. We are getting $1200/m for it. We are looking to continue to buy up there since the price points are lower and insurance doesn't seem to be as strict in GA like here in FL.

And remember, "The best time to buy a house was 20 years ago, the second best time is now!"

Hi James,

Personally we have found Jacksonville to be a great market for REI. My husband and I started investing here in 2018 when we were living in NYC and moved to Jax in 2020 to pursue REI full time. Our portfolio consists of primary single families but we do have multi family as well. Like Minna said above, there are a lot of SFR down here but we do come across multi families from time to time. The issue is that most of the good ones are sold off market. As a property manager, we work with a couple of well established agents here that primality deal with commercial multi families. I'm happy to connect you. Also, when you're in town let us know so that we can grab coffee. Jacksonville is a big city and a lot of people cross out areas by zip code. I tell people you have to dig deeper because there is a lot of opportunities that people miss out on, so happy to give you our input.

Hope this helps!
Elenis

Hi Mitchell,

From our experience we haven't had any issues renting out properties to different residents that have a single family home and a garage unit conversion on the property. Some of our clients have even installed two separate electric meters on the property, which would require two separate addresses. One of our clients did receive a violation from the city because the neighbor complained about an un-permitted garage conversion. Fortunately for our client, the conversion was "grandfathered-in" and they were able to continue to rent out both the SFR and the studio garage unit. So I suppose the main point is that to just make sure the addition/ADU is "legal" when it comes to zoning.

Hope this helps!
Elenis

Hi Farman,

For us and our goals, we look for areas that can potentially generate the 1% cash flow rule. We've had luck in areas or zip codes like 32210, 32208 (Harbor View, Lake Forest Hills) and 32211 (Arlington). This video is pretty helpful and goes into detail about the Jacksonville neighborhoods: Tour of Jacksonville FL Neighborhoods for Rental Property Investing

Hope this helps!
Elenis

Hi Kuwayne,

That's great you're breaking into the REI Jacksonville market. Personally, we started investing in Jacksonville while we were living out of state starting in 2018. Wow, how time flys! We relocated here to pursue REI full time. My piece of advice would be to learn the difference neighborhoods of Jacksonville in detail. It's the largest city by land mass in the US, so there are great pockets that many people miss on because they only look at zip codes. When we started we missed on great neighborhoods because we took bad advice from locals only to see now that these neighborhoods are doing great. Good luck investing and let me know if I can be of help in any way!

Hi ST King,

The price increases with insurance and taxes has certainly cut back our cash flow on many of our properties, but fortunately rents and rental demand have been pretty strong going into 2024. We still like the old fashion long-term rentals for the consistency and reliability of income. As far as new purchases we are pretty much looking at homes with little work needed, so that we can get them rented out and start cash flowing quickly. Materials and labor is high right now so we aren't doing much fix and rents or BRRRRs since rates to refinance are high.

Hi @Erin Church, thank you for that info. I will certainly attend one of those events when I am visiting Augusta next month.

Elenis

Hi Everyone!

I'm an investor/property manager in Jacksonville, FL and I'm currently looking at investment properties to purchase and rehab to rent out in Augusta, GA. I have a several of crews I use here in Jacksonville to help me with mine and my clients' rehabs, but as I'm just getting into the Augusta market I'm hoping to find reliable and skilled contractors, plumbers, and electricians to help me with my rehabs. My plan is to purchase for myself at least three properties this year in Augusta and then show to my investors/clients that this is a solid market so they can buy there too. I do plan to make a visit to Augusta in the coming weeks so we can meet in person as I am looking at properties to purchase. Thank you in advance and looking forward to connecting!  :)

Elenis

Hi Nick, it's great to meet you! My husband and I started out as an out-of-state investor like yourself. When we lived in NYC we purchased our first SFH rental in Jacksonville, FL in Feb 2018. We looked at a few markets before settling on Jackonville. We were both born and raised in Miami, FL so we felt the most comfortable investing in this state, but we never lived or visited Jacksonville. It was always this "forgotten" city in FL compared to Tampa, Orlando and Miami. And that's now what we love about it so much so we moved here in 2020 and opened up a brokerage and property management company.

The fact that it's the last major city in FL that hasn't grown to the same size of the 3 other major cities. So for us that means opportunity. It's a growing city with lots of plans to expand downtown. SFH in the right areas can generate strong rents and have lots of appreciation opportunity from our view. There are plenty of SFHs here, but a limited supply of multi-families. Not saying you can't find multi families, but you have to be actively looking and move fast when you do find one. Obviously, taxes are great here because there is no state income tax. Property taxes have gone up since the Covid RE boom, but no where near Miami, Tampa and Orlando.

Let me know if you have more specific questions. Happy to get on a call to chat further!

- Elenis

Hi Xavier! I’m an investor turned property manager. My company now manages 320+ doors in Jacksonville. I’d love the opportunity to chat and answer any questions. I’ll send you my info now :)